


Nygmobblepot Week 2017

by sunaddicted



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Edward has a pet snake, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Magic, Murder Husbands, Murder Kink, Nygmobblepot Week 2017, Power Dynamics, Recreational Drug Use, Twisted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-31 08:46:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12128817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: "My mother always said that making your guests wait is rude""A wise woman" Edward agreed, grinning brightly like a child on Christmas Day "Let's go then"





	1. Murder Husbands

_Murder Husbands_

Oswald observed Edward snap the latex gloves in place - leaving a red ring on the sensitive skin around his wrist - and zip up the plastic suit that looked like it had been pilfered from the GCPD, back when he still was on their pay roll (or maybe stolen from their storage the last time the Riddler had stormed the place) and he went on crime scenes to collect samples: he looked clinical and professional.

And really sexy, if Oswald had to be honest - even if he did find a little ridiculous the fact that Edward covered himself up like that "Planning on spilling a lot of blood?"

Edward pushed his glasses up his nose, mouth curling up in that smile that always made Oswald's nerves thrum in expectation and excitement: it was a Riddler's smile, twisting Edward's features beyond recognition.

"As you know, I prefer snapping necks when I'm on the job" Edward nodded towards the knife that his partner was absentmindedly twirling between his fingers, a thoughtless display of skill and ease "This could get a little messy and I have my nice suit on"

At that Oswald snorted and leaned up to kiss the other's cheek, knee aching because of the strain and he had to grab Edward's forearm to keep himself balanced "You just like your murder suit" he teased gently, thumb running over the transparent plastic protecting what definitely wasn't Edward's best suit: a glittery green monstrosity that made his head hurt and his fashion sense curl in disgust; Oswald had filled his husband's closet with the best hand-tailored suits that money could buy - he couldn't believe that the thing hadn't been burnt yet.

"Or maybe I just like the way you look at me when I wear it" Edward whispered, lips moving against the tender spot where the other's jaw was hinged to his skull - so fragile and easily breakable "Are you ready? I look forward seeing your work again" it was no secret between them that Edward missed the more hands-on approach Oswald had had at the beginning of his career as a mobster.

Oswald nodded, pupils slightly dilated as his breath started coming in short puffs and his cheeks reddened in a way he knew would make his freckles stand out; he wasn't quite sure whether Edward was actually aroused by the act of taking a life, but he certainly enjoyed to kill - and God be damned if the confidence pervading the younger man didn't make Oswald want to devour his mouth, mark him as his for everyone to see "My mother always said that making your guests wait is rude"

"A wise woman" Edward agreed, grinning brightly like a child on Christmas Day "Let's go then"


	2. AU/Crossover (magic au)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]careful of not going against the grain, he petted the snake as if he would one of Selina's cats, the only difference being that Absinthe - Abby, for friends only - didn't purr.

_Magic AU_

Over the years, Oswald had gotten used to the snake lazily slithering around his neck and down his chest to apparently go and cuddle in his lap, curling in a tight ball against his stomach to leech as much warmth off of him as possible - or so Edward said.

Gently, Oswald started running the pads of his fingers over the scales, slightly humid from the terrarium warm air thick with water trapped in its molecules; careful of not going against the grain, he petted the snake as if he would one of Selina's cats, the only difference being that Absinthe - Abby, for friends only - didn't purr.

"Look at the two of you, so cosy" Edward cooed, bending down to scratch the top of Absinthe's head.

It had taken some time to achieve that ease with the snake, but Oswald was proud of himself when he didn't stiffen in fear the moment Absinthe moved, clearly bothered by her owner, and buried its head under the shirt of his pyjamas "We need to put a stronger Heating Charm on: it's getting cold outside"

Edward hummed in agreement, slipping his wand out of the sleeve of his suit; Oswald didn't quite knew how his husband managed to do that: it wasn't like a suit offered as much space of movement as a robe and Edward tended to wear his clothes very.. slim fitting.

"I'll just put one on you, for now" Edward winked, wandwork precise and graceful - none of the flourishes that characterised the Riddler's flamboyant style in sight.

It was just a testament to Edward's brilliance that, while he made a plentiful use - and abuse - of his magic, nobody even doubted that he was a wizard; hiding his wand in his cane whenever he went out to spread chaos in town had been one of his best ideas and, well, Oswald couldn't really be blamed for shamelessly copying him, could he?

Oswald scowled "I hate it when you do that" though, he couldn't deny that he felt as if he had been wrapped up in a nice quilt and put to sit in front of the roaring fireplace, making his muscles turn to quivering jelly "You make me feel like a child"

Edward rolled his eyes and bent down to kiss his forehead, wand diappearing back in his sleeve with the same ease as it had been drawn out "I did it for Abby: I don't want my girl to freeze"

"I wish you were a Parselmouth, so that you could understand her when she complains about your mothering" Oswald teased fondly, absentmindedly caressing the snake's body pushing closer to his stomach "You would have made a wonderful Slytherin"

"Not all of us were born in Europe and went to Hogwarts" Edward pointed out "Besides I was an Horned Serpent, our founder was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin"

"Isn't that fancy speak for 'nerd'?"

"This nerd freed himself from your little prison of ice with a creative bit of wandless magic"

Oswald wiggled his eyebrows "That was both incredibly scary and hot" he admitted.

Edward's grin brightened, making a dimple appear at the left corner of his mouth "It was, wasn't it?"

Before things could get too heated, Ivy cleared her throat and detached from the wall she had been leaning against to walk into the living room, going to sit right beside Oswald; she wasn't too kin on spying on them, but she couldn't exactly help it: she still didn't trust Edward, despite the fact that months had passed from the last showdown between the Riddler and the Penguin, and she felt the compulsive need to protect the man who had given her a family again "Poor girl, they're traumatizing you, aren't they?" She murmured before raising her eyes up at them "You need to watch your mouths, the others overheard you: the current bet is that the two of you were part of some weird club"

Oswald sighed "Sorry, dear"

"We'll cast a Muffliato next time" Edward reassured.

"You better: I quite like my anonymity" Ivy glared, just to make sure that the point had gotten across before smiling down at Absinthe, poking her head out of Oswald's collar.


	3. Domestic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Shut up" Oswald complained, grabbing Edward by his shirt and dragging him down to bestow a chaste kiss on his lips in an attempt at silencing him for good.

_Domestic_

When a ray of sun caressed his lowered eyelids, making them tremble in annoyance before squeezing tighter over his eyes in a last and rather futile attempt at clinging to sleep, Oswald vowed to himself to install some kind of electric blinders that could be lazily closed with a remote without leaving the cozy comfort of the bed - especially considering the fact that neither Oswald nor Edward were particularly inclined to perform such a menial task once they had fallen in bed, be either to cuddle after a tiring day or to have sex.

Oswald heaved a sigh and flipped on his side, turning his back to the window and hitched the comforter up his shoulder, snuggling in it to leech its warmth since Edward was nowhere in sight; he wasn't particularly worried: the other man rarely slept more than a handful of hours - if he slept at all - and always liked to wake up early.

Which sounded rather insane, in Oswald's opinion. But maybe it had to do with the fact that firstly, he didn't suffer from insomnia, and secondly, he went to sleep only when the Iceberg Lounge closed its doors for the night - which meant sometime around three or four in the morning, depending on how busy the evening was.

"Stop pulling that face or it will stuck" Edward's voice, bright and light, teased.

Oswald hadn't heard him come in at all, which could only mean that he had managed to fall asleep again in the middle of his musings and that Edward had woken him up. With breakfast in bed if his nose still worked as it should, sending a clear message to his brain that there were fresh coffee and warm croissants in his immediate future if he just made the effort of sitting up "Wha'time issit?"

Edward chuckled fondly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, careful of not wrinkling his pristine clothes, so that he could lean over and gently card his fingers through Oswald's thick hair, ruffled by sleep and a bit clumped by the gel that he used in industrial quantities "Eight and a half"

"You criminal" Oswald moaned but pushed his head into the other's palm, greedy for the physical contact that he was too shy to ask for but craved like a starving man would crave a glass of water. Edward wasn't particularly big on touching - he had never been, not even before the ice prison or when he was just a nerdy loser on GCPD's payroll - and most of the times he endured hugs and cuddling for Oswald's benefit.

"You have a meeting at ten" Edward reminded him, with a last swipe of his thumb over a deep-set line on Oswald's forehead "And it takes you ages to get ready"

"Liar"

"Oh?" Edward arched an eyebrow even if Oswald couldn't see him, knowing that the other could probably perceive the gesture in his tone of voice "Because yesterday afternoon you changed your suit at least twice before heading out to your club. And before that you had the longest shower ever, dried and styled your hair, gossiped with Ivy on the phone and finally did your makeup" he listed, grinning with the kind of giddiness that he felt whenever he knew he was right.

"Shut up" Oswald complained, grabbing Edward by his shirt and dragging him down to bestow a chaste kiss on his lips in an attempt at silencing him for good.

"I might not, if that's the reward I get for calling you out on your beauty routine" Edward mumbled against his lips, a chuckle shattering their kiss "I love you"

Oswald sighed: how could he stay mad at him when he was just so damn adorable? Edward was his biggest weakness, one he always fell prey to - it was scary and exhilarating, like running towards the roaring sea to slip into the waves boiling with the anger of the tempest "I love you too" he whispered, heart fluttering like a caged bird in his chest.

Was it really so easy and effortless for people to say those three little words?

Oswald knew what his mother would have said, if he had asked her that question: only for people who used them so foolishly, that the words had lost their meaning - like a favourite shirt washed too many times that lost its colour and became a rag.

His mother would have been happy to know that her son's heart still fluttered when speaking his feelings out aloud - she would have been proud and that was what Oswald had always strived to make her feel whenever she thought of him.

"Os?"

Oswald smiled trapping the hand that was caressing his cheek against his skin "Sorry, just spacing out a little this morning" he turned his head to kiss the thumb that had been swiping at his cheekbone "Now give me that breakfast before my stomach starts to digest itself"


	4. Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble contains recreational drug abuse so, read carefully.

_Regret_

Opening the little metallic box jealously preserved in the inner pocket of his jacket almost was a religious experience; Edward's long and pale fingers trembled as its treasure was uncovered and he could feel his pulse picking up, blood rattling the walls of the veins in his temples with a constant thumping while his mouth dried up, pasty tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.

It had been a while since he had last taken a dose and even if he had successfully weaned himself off of them, as soon as the thought of taking just the one had started to maliciously swirl in his mind, Edward had felt as if he was in withdrawal all over again: sweaty and achy, his mind gradually spiralling out of control and his mirror voice cruelly laughing at him.

Mocking him for being so weak.

Once he had retrieved a pill, Edward snapped the lid of the box shut and put it back in its hiding place: neither Oswald nor Olga ever looked in his pockets - the first because he had no reason to and the second because she trusted him to empty his pockets before giving her his clothes to wash.

The pill, white and smooth, rested between his lips; the hard gelatin that encased the powdery heaven was slowly melting because of his bodily heat, seductively sticking to this lower lip. Edward drew it in with a slow drag of his tongue, positioning it under his molars with an ease born out of practice.

The only thing left between Edward and the sweet hit, it was the few seconds the nervous impulse would take to travel from his brain to the right muscles but still, he hesitated.

An ugly feeling, that anyone more poetically inclined would have likened to a fluttering flock of butterflies, curled in his stomach and made a wave of nausea rise up his trachea in a burning tide until keeping himself from gagging truly was an hardship.

It wasn't a feeling Edward knew well, mostly because he hadn't actually experienced it that often in his life and it had always dissipated rather quickly, always overwhelmed by more practical thoughts.

When he had killed Miss Kringle and his mind took over his heart, commanding him to hide the body.

When he had tricked him into confessing his feelings and he had to remind himself of how he had been betrayed.

When he had shot Oswald and he had started taking drugs to focus on the new empire he was trying to build, taking pleasure in a ghost's company.

Regret.

Edward knew he'd never been particularly well mentally balanced - especially after his stint in Arkham - but he recognised that losing months of his life in a prison of ice had made him particularly... unhinged. Even as the Riddler, who had given Edward some twisted sort of peaceful stability, he felt completely out of control.

A stability that now only the drugs could give him and he'd had the sad idea of swearing to Oswald he would never use them again, after he had ashamedly admitted to the other man how he had coped in his absence; on the spur of the moment, Edward had believed he owed it to Oswald, heart aching as at his rushed words he watched Oswald's seagreen eyes fill to the brim with tears - his soul echoing with the other's emotional pain, even if he quite didn't get it.

He'd kissed Oswald the first time with that promise on his lips, tasting the faint salt of tears as the other's mouth trembled under his own - sweet and clumsy with inexperience.

Edward stood up and walked to the door, tongue twirling the pill almost playfully, and checked that it was locked: Oswald usually assumed that he wanted to be left alone when he did so and never bothered him, unless something urgent cropped up; checking his wristwatch, Edward gathered that most of the effects of the drug would have passed and he'd be able to get out of his office before Oswald started worrying.

He breathed in deeply as he settled back in his chair, hands squeezing the armrests, and closed his eyes.

And bit down, the rush hitting almost immediately together with the regret weighing down heavily on his chest.


	5. Kings

_Kings_

Archenemies wasn't exactly the best word to describe the dynamic of their relationship; after all, if one took out of the equation their private life and the petty feelings that had brewed between the two of them, they hardly ever dabbled into each other's business - and that was what counted, in the end.

The Penguin cleverly ruled the underworld from the Iceberg Lounge - the club where those who mattered and regularly ended up splattered on the tabloid pages religiously went to find their fun - a smile plastered all over his face whenever the police came to inspect the place, the certainty that the officers wouldn't find anything actually incriminating making him smile even more sweetly as he popped expensive bottles of champagne to welcome them.

The Riddler had made of Gotham the dark and shimmery stage of his performance in which he absolutely excelled - and in Gotham the performers were many, one more unhinged than the other, meaning that only few of them really shone under the spotlight - and managed to frighten and entertain the whole city at the same time with a wicked smile, conquering for himself bold headlines gleaming in dark ink.

Inevitably, knowing that the Riddler had once been the centrepiece of the Iceberg Lounge, whenever the press caught a whiff of the two of them coexisting in the same room, they went all aflutter and created the scoop if they couldn't actually find one.

Which was true most of the times.

Oswald couldn't remember the last time he had actually threatened Edward's life or even spoken to him words heavy with rage and regret - he had other things to focus upon rather than a completely useless rivalry.

Besides, Edward's performances were the perfect moments to strike the most complicated deals; Oswald would have been a fool not to exploit the distraction and confusion reigning over the GCPD, considering that he moved in the dark: he was the puppeteer behind the curtains, the one everyone knew moved the ties but no-one ever saw in action.

Seen under that light, they were.. partners, really.

So, Oswald ignored the flash of the cameras going off and walked up to the man leaning against the bar; around Edward there was an empty bubble, a quiet testament of the respect and fear that the man brought out of Oswald's guests "Good evening, my old friend"

"Oswald" Edward wasn't surprised by the other man's appearance - was expecting him, in fact: Oswald kept his demain under control with hawkish focus, no-one walked into the club without him being aware of it.

"What can I do for you tonight?"

"I'm just chilling" Edward shrugged "The last hit went well"

Oswald couldn't help arching an eyebrow in disbelief: if there was something he knew pretty well, it was that Ed always had reasons for what he did "I suppose I'll be reading all about it in the newspaper tomorrow, then"

Edward swirled his glass before picking the olive out of his martini and popping it in his mouth "Oh, believe me, you definitely will" he leaned over, lips glistening with syrupy alcohol just a centimetre from Oswald's ear "But I won't be reading about your latest coup, right?"

The little frisson of excitement that the other's closeness had inspired in him, it melted like snow under the sun as soon as Oswald heard those words "If you're here to threaten me.."

"That would be tasteless" Edward interrupted, straightening up "But I would like to discuss.. a possible alliance"

"I.."

"Wasn't expecting that?"

Oswald scowled at Edward's cheeky grin "Quite. Perhaps you'd like to follow me on the balcony?"

"Please, lead the way" Edward had always wondered how it felt, towering over the amass of Gotham's most influential citizen trembling at the idea that, in the Iceberg Lounge, the Penguin had more power over them than anyone else - it must have been thrilling, considering that if Oswald wasn't in his office or mingling, then he was perched on the railing of his private floor.

"Forgive the rudeness but caution is never enough" Oswald said pragmatically, snapping his fingers towards the guards.

Edward wrinkled his nose but complied: he obviously was armed, the gun weighting down against his side just a decoy for the more comforting presence of the knife holstered at the small of his back - which quickly was found and took hostage "I could still throw you over the rail" he pointed out.

"I know but you're here for business, aren't you?" Oswald smiled, beckoning the other over "Hard to get some things done when there's so many zeroes on the prize for your head, isn't it?"

Edward grimaced as he swallowed the last sip of his martini, quietly and immediately replaced by an extremely professional waiter: he hated when Oswald predicted his intentions so easily "I admit that some matters can only be settled.. subtly"

"Finally - I've waited long enough for you to realise it" Oswald cocked his head to the side "As your former mentor, I'm happy to inform you that you learnt your last lesson"

Edward rolled his eyes as he stood next to Oswald and looked down at the ground floor "Are you quite done preening?"

"Not really but we can move forward to your proposal"

"In exchange of your assistance, I'll inform you of my plans so that you can organise to strike your deals - and, whenever possible, change them to a date more congenial to you" Edward offered "I don't want to have a say in your business and you won't have one in mine"

Oswald pensively looked in his glass, mind quickly working to evaluate the pros and cons of the deal Edward was offering him: if things really worked out as he was imagining them to, then not only he would be privy to more information - the real currency of the criminal worlds - but the Riddler would also become predictable "We'll need to write down a contract and spend a little time over the details but" Oswald offered Edward his hand "It's a deal"


End file.
